Just a few miles apart along the Charles River sit two heavyweights in computer science, campuses teeming with new facilities and field-expanding research.

But, in the struggle between archrivals Harvard and MIT to dominate this field, another "campus" has become important--this one in the rain-soaked Northwest.

Microsoft CEO William H. Gates III, Class of 1977, and President Steven A. Ballmer '77 have been very generous to their alma mater and to the trade school down the river in recent years.

In addition, the Microsoft Corp. has made sizable donations to MIT, making it one of many companies to give money for research or education in Cambridge.

With almost $70 million in technological donations floating around this side of the Charles, one might wonder why the two schools aren't pooling their resources.

Harvard and MIT seem to be in the same boat--both schools are constantly vying for funds. But while MIT leads the pack on funding from private industry, Harvard's fundraising focus for the past several years has been alumni.

Harvard seems to have succeeded in plumbing the depths of alumni bank accounts. But in computer science, like many other areas, the University lags behind MIT in donations from industry.

I-Campus